God Of War Composer Open To Returning, But Feels His Work Is “Complete”

Bear McCreary, composer for the recently rebooted God of War games, has stated that his work with the series “feels complete” in a recent interview with VGC.

In an upcoming podcast following a 20th anniversary celebration for the series, McCreary discussed his work on the games and the journey it has taken him on, saying: “It brings a sort of closure to Kratos’ arc, so I feel like my contribution, starting with E3 2016 all the way through to Valhalla, feels complete. I feel complete. I feel like I told a story.”

McCreary, who has also composed for games like Forespoken and films like 10 Cloverfield Lane, began working on the God of War series with the 2018 reboot/sequel for PlayStation 4, and returned for its sequel, God of War: Ragnarok, as well as its free expansion, Valhalla. His work on the series has been widely acclaimed, with IGN calling the music composed for Ragnarok “truly beautiful”.

As well as composing for Ragnarok, McCreary also appears in-game as Ræb, a dwarven musician who appears partway into the game and during its secret ending. McCreary notably performed the track ‘Blood Upon The Snow’ from the game alongside Irish singer-songwriter Hozier during the 2022 Game Awards, alongside winning the award for Best Score & Music the same night. His work on Valhalla also earned McCreary his third Grammy nomination for Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media, making him currently the only composer to be nominated every year since the category’s introduction in 2023.

When asked if he would return for future projects in the series, most notably the upcoming Amazon series, McCreary did not rule out the possibility, saying: “Everybody’s got my number, I’m here. I’m really proud of what I did.”

McCreary is currently performing on the worldwide Themes & Variations Tour, and has most recently composed the soundtrack for the Christopher Landon thriller Drop, which hit theatres earlier this month. A limited edition 13-disc vinyl box set containing music from across the series’ history is set to release later this year, with pre-orders available now.

Words by Ash Douglas

Support The Indiependent

We’re trying to raise £200 a month to help cover our operational costs. This includes our ‘Writer of the Month’ awards, where we recognise the amazing work produced by our contributor team. If you’ve enjoyed reading our site, we’d really appreciate it if you could donate to The Indiependent. Whether you can give £1 or £10, you’d be making a huge difference to our small team.